Social Studies (HS)

Introduction

The social studies writers have developed units to meet the expectations of the New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standard (NJCCCS) for Social Studies and the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in English Language Arts & Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science and Technical Subjects. These units are designed for US History I, US History II, and World History courses and include the Civics, Geography, Economics, and Historical Perspective strands. They are presented here for your review and we look forward to your feedback. The department will use your responses to inform our work as we continue to develop student learning objectives (SLOs) and assessments to measure those SLOs.

As the Department moves forward with the Model Curriculum Project, additional resources will be provided to assist districts with implementing the Social Studies and Common Core State Standards. The SLOs are intended to provide clear targets to assist in the daily planning of lessons and the development of curriculum units.

Assessments will be designed to measure how well students have met the targets. Teachers are encouraged to use the assessment data to determine if additional learning experiences are necessary for their students.

A note about the integration of the NJCCCS and the CCSS in the units:

All SLOs reflect the expectations of cumulative progress indicators (NJCCCS).

Some SLOs include the integration of the CCSS. For example, CCSS were included in a unit when the content of the time period and/or available resources would provide an opportunity for students to engage in developing essential civic, economic, geographic, and historical thinking skills.

SLOs that include the CCSS are in italics.

CCSS that are identified in a unit will likely be the focus (in part or whole) of the summative assessment for that unit in the Model Curriculum.

The CCSS appear multiple times across the units and should be assessed periodically (in part or whole) in one or more units to gauge the students' progress towards mastery.

Several CCSS have not been identified or fully addressed in the model curriculum because their inclusion depends on individual student needs as well as text selection (i.e., RH. 4, 5, 10 and WHST. 3, 5, 10).

When appropriate, teachers should design additional learning experiences to address specific CCSS based on results from formative assessments and individual student needs.

If a unit is taught at a different grade level (see standards into units chart below), the teacher should make the necessary modifications to meet the expectations of the CCSS at that grade level.